Human Rights Day is held on the 10th of December every year in commemoration of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10, 1948. The UDHR was the first document to make claim that everyone is inherently entitled to equal human rights regardless of their race, religion, sex, language, political opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Every year, a different theme is chosen for Human Rights Day in hopes that this holiday can bring about awareness to various human rights issues.
This year’s theme is “Youth Standing Up for Human Rights.”
This theme was chosen in response to the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was celebrated in mid-November, and will focus on the leadership roles young people maintain around the world.
In conjunction with the theme “Youth Standing Up for Human Rights”, the UN is once again utilizing its hashtag #standup4humanrights. The four focuses of this year’s campaign are:
Take a Stand Against Bullying
- This campaign focuses on the fact that ⅓ of all teens experience bullying, and suggests more can be done in the areas of in-person and online bullying.
Take a Stand for Climate Justice
- This campaign urges us to acknowledge and respond to climate change, and pays homage to Greta Thunberg who led over 40 million people (from 163 countries) in the largest climate protest in history.
Take a Stand for Everyone’s Voice to Be Heard
- This campaign tells us that only 2% of Members of Parliament (over 45,000 around the world) are under the age of thirty, and insists we pay more attention to who is being represented, and who is being left out of the political decision-making process.
Stand Up for the Equal Rights of LGBTI People Everywhere
- This campaign draws attention to the reality that nearly ⅓ of the world’s countries still consider same-sex relationships to be a crime, and suggests that this thinking leads to widespread discrimination of LGBTI people.
This Human Rights Day, stand up for equal rights to all, and consider what you can do to take a stand against bullying and climate change, and fight for equal representation and LGBTI rights.
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Photos courtesy of the United Nations Human Rights Day Campaign Materials.
For more information about Human Rights Day, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, visit the United Nations website located here. https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day
To learn more about this year’s theme and utilize UN Human Rights Day materials, go here. https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day/resources#2019campaignmaterials
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